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Low overheads

5 April, 2012 - 14:12 -- John Burton

World Land Trust (WLT) has always prided itself on its low overheads. But this is proving to be a real struggle. In times of economic downturn, we have had to ‘pedal much faster to keep up the same speed’.

The number of individual supporters has actually increased over the past few years, and so has the income from them. However the number of corporate supporters, while it has increased, has shown an overall decline in revenue. Some have shown dramatic growth, but others have clearly been hit by the economic recession.

In order for us to keep our overheads low, it is essential that we do raise some unrestricted funds; funds that can be used to pay salaries, rent and electricity bills. That way we can ensure that as much of the public and other donations continue to go to supporting land purchase and protection in the field.

Ideally we need a long term corporate sponsor to take us on for say five years, the way business might sponsor a football team. We would cost a fraction of that of a football team and think what the sponsor would get – they would be making a (small) contribution to saving some of the most important places on the planet. They would be sponsoring an organisation that has been endorsed by Sir David Attenborough, as well as many of the world’s most respected conservationists. Surely this is more worthwhile than a football team or a racing car?

So please can my readers use whatever influence they have, by word of mouth, pen and paper or email to spread the word. Help us keep our overheads low so that we can save even more land and support our partners in this vital work.